Chapter 45
Let's Go Farming! Mother nature, here we come! {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" ! colspan="1" style="text-align:center;" width="650px" | Story 2 |- |'Nico': all right, so we're recording a promo video on our own. Where do we start? Nozomi: Look into the camera and take it from the top! Nico: I said don’t record me without permission! Remember, agriculture promo video or no, this is a feature film. We need to formulate a plan and stick to it. Maki: Who’s going to be in charge of that? Kotori: It sounds difficult… Nico: Heh, heh, heh. Leave everything to Nico Yazawa, master planner! Eli: Huh? Nico, you know how to organize a movie set? Nico: I’ve never done it before, but I have no doubt that I’ll be a virtuoso! Rin: You really think so? Nico: I honestly can’t say, but I won’t know till I try!  Eli: I thought we would just shoot a bunch of footage without really worrying too much, and edit the best parts together afterwards. Nozomi: Yeah, I think that was the original idea. Umi: Realistically, I think that’s the better plan. Nico: Err… Fine, whatever. That’s what we’ll do. Now, let’s roll camera! Hanayo: She took off her sunglasses, neck towel, and sun visor! Nico: Okay, hit record! Don’t miss a moment of my alluring charm, and be sure to get me from every angle! Nozomi: Don’t worry, I’ve had the camera on you this whole time. Nico: What?! I can’t have my fans see me with a sweat towel draped over my neck. The shock would kill them! You go back and delete that this instant! Nozomi: It’s all good! Nico: No, it’s not! Eli: Let’s start by picking vegetables. Remember what the letter said! Rin: What exactly should we pick? Eli: Well, what would you like to eat, Rin? Rin: Huh? Oh geez, I don’t know. Picking a specific vegetable is kinda tough… Kotori: I’d like to try some tomatoes right off the vine, or a fresh cucumber! Umi: Yes, a salad with freshly-picked vegetables sounds delicious. Nozomi: Steamed veggies would be nice, too. And they’re good for you! Maki: How about some bagna cauda too? Eli: Good idea. We should take advantage of this opportunity and make a few different dishes. Honoka: Mmm, just talking about it makes my stomach growl. Nozomi: So salad, steamed veggies, and bagna cauda. Nico: What about a nice, hearty soup? Umi: Do you mean like miso soup? Nico: No, more like a minestrone or a pot-au-feu. Something where vegetables are the main ingredient. They’re simple, too. You just have to boil them. Eli: Sounds good to me! It looks like we can pick potatoes, so why don’t we go with pot-au-feu? Hanayo: Umm… I don’t suppose we can harvest any rice? Eli: Rice? Hmm… Maki: Nope. Rice is grown in rice paddies, not fields. Hanayo: I thought so… *Sigh* I would’ve loved to have a rice ball. Nozomi: I guess next time we should take a trip to the rice paddies. Maki: Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me! Nozomi: A rice harvesting experience? I thought planting rice was more popular than harvesting. Maki: Nozomi… you’re joking, right? Nozomi: You’ll just have to wait and see. Eli: So… We’ve got salad, steamed veggies, bagna cauda, and pot-au-feu. Is four dishes all right? Umi: I think that’s perfect. Eli: Okay, let’s go harvest the crops! Be sure to keep in mind what we’re making, and what you personally want to eat. Nico: We’re off to the harvest! Kotori: Hey! It’s okay to pick tomatoes, right? Eli: Yes, but remember to only take what you’re going to eat. Maki: Even with the mini tomatoes, there’s such wide varieties… With so many choices, it’s hard to know which ones to pick. Nozomi: Why not do a taste test? Maki: Huh? Is that allowed? Nozomi: Why not? Either you eat them now, or you eat them later. I don’t see a difference. Maki: When you put it that way… Okay. Mmm… Oh, these are sweet! Kotori: These have the perfect bit of tartness. Still, I can’t get over how many different varieties of tomatoes they have. Umi: I wish I could try them all, but I’m worried I’d get too full if I did! Honoka: Hey, what’s this? I’ve never seen a vegetable like this before. Is this some kind of new strain?! Nico: Are you serious? That’s okra. You can buy it at the grocery store. Honoka: Huh? This is okra?! Nico: Okra grows up, towards the sun. Did you think they hung off the plant, like cucumbers? Honoka: Yeah… Or rather, I guess I didn’t really have any idea what it looked like. But it was just so strange, I was shocked! Eli: Ah, so this is okra, huh? Interesting. Hanayo: Oh, look here! Corn! Rin: Now I’m wanting roasted corn… Mm-mmm! Umi: That sounds delicious. It’ll go perfectly with the steamed vegetables and bagna cauda. Let’s pick a few ears. Hanayo: Okay! Uhh… How exactly do you pick corn? Rin: Huh? You just kinda snap it off the stalk like this, don’t you? Umi: I-I… guess so? There’s a lot more to know about picking vegetables than I give it credit for. Nico: Now we just need the potatoes. Kotori: I’d rather have sweet potatoes over white potatoes. Nico: Sweet potatoes aren’t in season yet. It’ll be a little while longer. Kotori: Really? Wow, Nico. You know a lot! Nico: Heh, you know it. Eli: Well, we’ve harvested most of what we need. I guess we should split up into two groups. One to finish gathering crops, and one to go fishing. Honoka: All right! I wanna be on the fishing team! Rin: Me too! Hanayo: Okay… me three! Even though I’ve never been fishing… Nico: Are you all fishing newbies? I guess it’s up to me to save the day. I went fishing once when I was a kid. Maki: J-Just once? Nico: Is that a problem? Maki: Not at all? So four of you? Maybe one more person should join the fishing team? Kotori: Sure. I’ll give it a try! Eli: That settles it. Okay everyone, let’s split up and get back to work! |} {| class="mw-collapsible mw-collapsed wikitable" ! colspan="1" style="text-align:center;" width="650px" | Story 4 |- |'Hanayo': *Sigh* I can't believe I'm the only one who's coming back empty-handed... Kotori: Hanayo… Cheer up, okay? Hanayo: I don’t feel very cheery right now… Nico: Look, there’s nothing we can do about the fact that you didn’t catch anything. Rin: I’ll share the ones I caught with you, Hanayo! So don’t be sad, okay? Hanayo: Wow… Those trout look so yummy. Tee-hee. Thanks, Rin. Nico: It’s late. We should hurry back. Honoka: I’m starving. Hanayo: Now that you mention it, so am I. Kotori: It’s almost dinnertime! Let’s hurry back and start cooking! Rin: Let’s get the lead out!   Umi: Ah, they’re back. Honoka: Umi! Everyone! We’re back, and we brought fish! Eli: Great job, everyone. We’re done cooking the veggies. Rin: Oh my gosh, that smells mouth-wateringly good. Nico: I’ll go get ready to grill the fish. Do we have skewers? Maki: Skewers… Will these do? Hey, wait a second! You’re gonna run the fish through? Nico: That’s how you’re supposed to do it. Someone help me gut these guys. Honoka: Huh? Guts? The fish? Nico: They won’t taste good if you don’t gut them. They’ll stink, and they won’t get nice and crispy when you grill them. Rin: I don’t really like fish… I think I’ll pass. Hanayo: Huh?! You caught them and now you’re not going to eat them? Rin: Catching them was fun… but I don’t like fish! Umi: I’m sure it’s completely different when you catch it yourself. Don’t say another word about how you don’t like fish. Why not just take one bite? Rin: So it might taste good because I bought it myself? Nozomi: Yeah. I bet Umi’s right. You’ll probably love it! Oh, Nico, I’ll help you gut them. Maki: Hanayo, can you help me roll the rice balls? Hanayo: Huh?! Rice balls?! Maki: One of the farmers came by with some rice they’d cooked for us. Hanayo: Ooh, that looks os good. Leave everything to me! Eli: Can anyone who’s not preparing food set the table? And those of you who went fishing, make sure you wash your hands! Honoka: Okie-dokie! Whoa, Umi, did you guys make all this by yourselves? Umi: We did! The pickled vegetables were gifts, but everything else is handmade by us. Honoka: That’s incredible. And it all looks so good! Rin: I’m ready to help, too! I’m famished! Nico: The fish are all grilled! Eli: And I’m done reheating the pot-au-feu. Let’s dig in! Honoka: Yeah! I feel like my stomach’s shrunk so much, it’s touching my spine!  Together: Bon appetit! Kotori: Mmm… The trout came out so good! It’s salted to perfection. You’re a true grill master, Nico! Nico: Heh, heh. There are a lot of little things that go into grilling fish. Hanayo: Here’s your share, Rin. Rin: Do I really have to eat this? Waaah, it’s still shaped like a fish! Nozomi: Well, duh. It IS a fish. It was grilled just right, so it came out light and fluffy. It’s really, really good. Eli: Harasho! Nico, you really cooked this yourself? It’s salted perfectly, and you took it off the heat at exactly the right moment! Superb job! Rin: Is it really that tasty? Hanayo: Go on and try it yourself. I guarantee you’ll love it! Rin: O-Okay… *Chomp* *Om nom nom* *Gulp* Huh? It doesn’t smell all fishy… and it tastes pretty okay. Hanayo: Way to go, Rin! You ate fish! Rin: Yeah! I can eat fish if it’s done like this. Wow, trout is really yummy! Umi: I’m so happy you liked it. Nico: Of course she did. Remember who grilled it!  Honoka: Everyone, look! What a beautiful sunset. Kotori: Oh, my! It’s gorgeous. Nozomi: Sunsets out here in nature are on a different level. I bet the stars are going to be out of this world. Eli: Like the whole sky will be filled with stars? Maybe we’ll be able to find a whole bunch of constellations. Honoka: A big starry sky? I wanna see! Why don’t we spend the nigh out here next time we come. Eli: Yeah… I hope we can come again. Nico: So… You do remember why we came out here, right? Umi: To… film an agriculture promotional video. Nico: Exactly! And what happened to the filming? Who was recording all this?! Nozomi: I was, at the beginning… but at some point I totally forgot to keep recording. I guess we’ll have to do everything over, huh? Eli: I guess next time is going to be sooner than we thought. Nico: Oh well, at least we had a good time. That made it all worthwhile. Honoka: Yeah! Let’s come back as soon as we can! |} Category:Story Category:Muse